Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-12-15-Speech-3-249"
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"en.20101215.23.3-249"2
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"Mr President, along with a number of Members of this House I recently attended the ACP Summit in Kinshasa, officially the second worst country in the world. The UN runs an index of happiness and it places the Democratic Republic of the Congo above only Zimbabwe. But, of course, the Congolese, unlike the Zimbabweans, cannot tell themselves that things would improve if only there were a change of government: they have had their multi-party elections, their internationally approved constitution, and so on.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo exaggerates and concentrates the tragedy of Africa. You can, I think, blame the colonial experience there with somewhat more force than in neighbouring countries, without wanting to rehearse the whole tragedy of the Congo Free State. There is, of course, the curse of natural resources, which breaks the link between taxation and expenditure, and makes politics a scramble for honour and wealth. But, above all, there is the heterogeneity, the lack of national feeling, the lack of linguistic or ethnic unity of purpose. ‘If you love your country, pay your taxes’ said a plaintive sign in Kinshasa. Of course nobody does.
You can, I am sure, guess why I am mentioning this. The President of the European Council said that patriotism leads to war. Well I would love to bring him to a place where there is no patriotism whatsoever, and see what it leads to."@en1
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